IT IS one of the iconic images from City’s fairytale journey to the 2013 Capital One Cup final.

A jubilant Matt Duke charges up the pitch towards the wall of claret and amber at the far end of Wigan’s DW Stadium with a posse of team-mates in his wake.

It was the moment when the Bantams announced themselves on the giant-killing stage; the forerunner for many greater occasions to follow.

But it almost passed the goalkeeper by.

“I remember thinking at the time ‘I’m not sure of the score’,” laughed Duke this week. “When it comes to penalty shoot-outs, you usually have a good idea but that was the first time it had happened to me.

“I thought we had won but I wasn’t 100 per cent. I’d shut it out of my mind to concentrate on their last penalty and then stood there - it was only after when I saw everybody running towards me that I’d realised we’d done it!

“That’s when I set off. I wasn’t going to let them all pile on top of me and thought they needed to do a bit more running...”

Friday marks the third anniversary of that cup upset and this afternoon at Valley Parade sees the first meeting between the two teams since.

Four points separate them but City have a game in hand. When they last played, the gap was 59 places – and three divisions.

Wigan would finish that season relegated but also FA Cup winners after stunning Manchester City. Even forgetting what was to follow, they were a notable scalp for the Bantams.

And yet the feeling, when the draw for the fourth-round was first made, had been underwhelming.

Duke recalled: “Everyone was a bit disappointed. We wanted a Premier League club but had hoped for somebody a bit bigger.

“It would have been better if we’d been at home because we knew there wouldn’t be a big crowd. Wigan didn’t get many fans.

“But we took 5,000 over there and it was magnificent. When it came to the penalties, all I could hear was them chanting my name and the drum banging from the other end.

“You could tell it had been so long since the supporters had been given anything to get excited about. It had all been pretty negative before that.

“But that was the springboard for everything that followed. We went from strength to strength that season and finished by winning promotion at Wembley.

“The club had finally taken a step forward – and I’m sure that night at Wigan was where it all began.”

The game itself had been no great spectacle as two hours of largely attritional football failed to produce a goal. But that played right into City’s hands.

Duke said: “I remember making one good save just before half-time and their keeper coach commenting on it as we went off.

“They didn’t create too much although at one stage we were under that much pressure we were playing without a striker. It was six at the back and four in midfield and the wingers were playing as fullbacks.

“We rode our luck at times, you have to in those situations. But it wasn’t like they were missing sitters.

“I remember (Jordi) Gomez should have scored in extra-time when he was through. But seeing him shoot wide gave you more encouragement to keep going.”

It’s easy to forget that City were without key men – Andrew Davies, Luke Oliver, Ricky Ravenhill and Kyel Reid. Gary Jones was only fit enough for sub duties because of a bad back.

But the likes of Rory McArdle, Carl McHugh and Duke filled the breach admirably.

“It was a massive win for Carl,” he said. “He’d only played a few games and suddenly was up against Premier League strikers. But he didn’t let anyone down, nobody did.”

And so to penalties and the genuine belief that the underdogs could pull it off.

The first five were perfect. Nathan Doyle, Jones and Stephen Darby gave City a 3-2 advantage.

Then Shaun Maloney fired horribly over the bar.

Alan Connell was spot-on like his team-mates and it was Duke against Gomez once more.

City were one save from victory – even if the keeper himself wasn’t completely aware of that.

Duke said: “As a keeper, you love penalty shoot-outs. It’s a win-win scenario because nobody is going to blame you whatever happens.

“The best player in the world can miss a penalty in the same way that the worst can score one. It’s completely 50/50.

“It’s normally the strikers scoring the winning goal and getting all the glory. But from a selfish point of view, the shoot-out is the chance for a goalkeeper to be the hero.

“I went on his run-up and guessed which way he was going. I was ready to extend more but it wasn’t a great penalty and came to me.”

Duke left Valley Parade the following summer for Northampton. He now combines coaching the under-21 goalkeepers at Sheffield United with playing part-time for Nicky Law’s Alfreton in the National League North.

But he still keeps a keen eye on developments at his old club.

“Bradford didn’t start great but I know things are picking up. Wigan are up there now and both teams will be fancied for the play-offs.

“It should be a great game and you’d expect quite a few goals.”

But it’s unlikely to rival the dramatic finish from before.